Metior Magazine - Edition #15

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Murdoch Empire Telegraph & Indian Ocean Review

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Edition #5 September 2014

Tingling Tentacles

Murdoch Empire Telegraph & Indian Ocean Review – Since 1975 Edition 5, September 2014 Metior acknowledges that this is and always will be Aboriginal land.

Metior is a Murdoch University student publication.

For latest Guild news, events and info go to www.the-guild.com.au Find us on Facebook & Twitter metiormagazine metiormagazine Want to catch up on previous issues? Go to www.the-guild.com.au/metior Editor Olivia Gardner

Cover Photo Ava Mandal

Sub-Editor Madura McCormack

Photographers Adam Semple Anthony Powell Ava Mandal Caleb Gorton Carey Ooi James Ahern Lisa Townsend Rosemary Henderson

Graphic Design Karmen Lee Our talented team of writers...

Caris Horton Adam Semple Lisa Townsend Anthony K J Smith Troy Treeby Ben Wright Zachary Duggan Beth Weston

We’ll be holding a contributors meeting on the September 12 at 1.00pm in the guild council room for all students interested in working with us on the next edition.

Metior’s deadlines for the next edition of 2014 is September 26 If you’d like to contribute writing, photography, poetry, illustrations or ideas please email us at metior@the-guild.com.au Editor Olivia Gardner

Advertising Will Perera

Email metior@the-guild.com.au

Phone (08) 9360 6562

Address Murdoch University Guild of Students 90 South Street, Murdoch WA 6150

Email W.Perera@the-guild.com.au

This magazine is printed using vegetable based inks onto paper stock which is manufactured from pulp sourced from plantation grown timber.

Both paper manufacturer and printer are certified to ISO 14001, the internationally recognised standard for Environmental Management.

Disclaimer Metior is published by the students of Murdoch University, under the governance of Murdoch University Guild of Students.

Content should not be regarded as the opinions of the Guild unless specifically stated.

The Guild accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the opinions or information contained within the magazine.

CONTENTS Prez Sez �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2 Editorial �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2 Opportunities.................................................................................4 Giveaways/Freebies/Up for grabs...............................................5 Creative Non-Fiction Why Do You Travel?.....................................................................15 Features Life in Antarctica..........................................................................12 White Rabbit Red Rabbit.............................................................20 Beau Est Mien..............................................................................22 Fiction Cracks in the City ........................................................................26 Springtime Madness....................................................................30 Photography Carey Ooi........................................................................................3 Caleb Gorton..................................................................................6 Rosemary Henderson . ......................................................10 & 31 Adam Semple........................................................ 14, 16, 18 & 27 Lisa Townsend.............................................................................23 James Ahern................................................................................24 Ava Mandal . ...............................................................................28 Public Service Announcements Calling All Planeteers....................................................................8 Stunningly Sustainable September..............................................9 Amnesty International Murdoch Group........................................9 Reviews Film..............................................................................................32 Art.................................................................................................33

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PREZ SEZ Words by Roland Belford I write this today on the announcement of the Guild elections for next year. It was a record low voter turnout.

I suspect, although they’ll never admit it, that the University forgot to update the voter roll this year effectively leaving all first years and newly transferred students without a vote. Expect the rest of this column to be full of other wild accusations and flippant remarks too, because I don’t have many more of these left to write and might as well run my mouth since student engagement seems to be at an all-time low.

So what else has been annoying me that you should know about? Well I picked up Metior editor 2, from 1991 and read through President Juddy O’Malley’s editorial. Wow. He opens “this will be as brief as possible” and then proceeds to fill one and a half A4 pages bragging about how terribly he managed the Guild’s finances. In 1991, despite having $400k in the bank, the Guild went about borrowing $300k (interest rates in 1991 were over 13%) to contribute towards the construction of the Sports and Rec centre on campus. Fast forward two decades later and The Guild has sold off its remaining stake in sports and recreation for $1. So I think we got ripped off there and, judging from the amount of club grant requests from sports clubs this year, it looks like under the Uni’s management sports has been run into the fucking ground.

What else? Oh yeah, how about that Rockingham decision? In the likely event that you don’t read student announcements; Rockingham undergraduate courses have been cancelled, saving Murdoch $5 million over 3 years. Now I managed to procure the original master plan for the Rockingham campus recently. It wasn’t found in the University archives, which probably explains why the state of the campus appears to have been frozen since 1996. According to the original blueprint, by 2015 Rockingham was meant to be a full-fledged campus with on-site student accommodation and over 2000 students. Funnily enough, 2000 students was cited by Murdoch as the number of students they would need to have enrolled at Rockingham for it to be financially sustainable while justifying its decision to reduce the number of students to zero.

In spite of all this, thank you to the handful of students who gave a shit and came along to protest the government’s plans to make student life even worse. There was great solidarity from the Murdoch students who put aside differences in ideology and approach to come together in opposition to the government. I saw everyone from Socialist Alliance to Young Liberals there. It’s a shame the factions of other universities decided to be all sectarian about it and use it as an opportunity to attack each other instead of unifying for two whole hours against a common foe.

EDITORIAL Words by Olivia Gardner So I suppose the theme of this edition (Tingling Tentacles) doesn’t really make much sense and I can safely say that after coming up with two years’ worth of these things, it doesn’t get any easier. For the most part I just like the cover photo of the squid and the way ‘tingling tentacles’ sounds as it rolls off my tongue while I whisper it aloud to myself alone in my room late at night – surely much to the dismay of my housemates – however, I’ve never made it a secret that I leave these ramblings to the very last minute.

Here is how I’m going to swing this one, let’s look at it as a metaphor – particularly for those of you, like me, who draw ever closer to the end of their university life – it’s time to put the feelers out, get those tentacles tingling. I for one, despite being so close to the finish line, sometimes feel like packing it all in. All it takes is the mere thought of finding a job with nothing but an Arts degree in hand and a naïve glimmer in the eye to trigger my next panic attack.

Regardless, it’s important to never stop striving for the things in life that get you thinking, get your senses tingling – the inspiring – whatever that may be for you. Sometimes it’s damn hard, and so it’s nice for a small reminder that your potential goes as far as your ever expanding imagination can take it.

As always with Metior, we strive to bring you something of interest, something to inspire, definitely a picture or two to ease the monotony of daily life or to remind you of your next adventure, and most certainly to get you thinking about tentacles – because why not?

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PHOTOGRAPHY Photography by Carey Ooi

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OPPORTUNITIES Life rewards over-achievers with stress, premature balding and a prolonged sense of accomplishment. If you enjoy a smooth head and the taste of success, check out what’s listed below.

ArtStart Grant

European Fashion Award FASH 2015

Apparently there’s still a chance for arts students to get government funding amidst the Hockey budget funfest. The Australia Council has opened applications for its ArtStart Grant to the tune of up to $10,000. The money will support a ‘career or business development strategy for your arts practice’, to develop a sustainable arts career.

While the birthday suit is a priceless fashion statement, it isn’t the most legal form of liberation. Under the theme “Freedom”, this fashion competition is searching for designers to use clothing as an expression of social utopia, a poetic symbol of protest, or escape from the everyday routine. Hosted by the German Fashion Industry Foundation (SDBI), participation is open to fashionistas worldwide.

Brief: Financial assistance provided to recent creative arts graduates (Cert IV or higher). Applicants will submit a viable plan of what the money is to be used for. Highlighted art forms include; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, dance, literature, music and theatre. ArtStart supports practicing artists and does not fund graphic designers, journalists, editors or curators. Eligibility requirements are outlined on the website.

Brief: Participants, working in teams or as individuals, will submit a fashion idea that fulfills the theme of “Freedom”. There are two age categories; students and graduates. The winner will receive €2,500, have their work presented at Berlin Fashion Week and receive professional photo shoots and media work. International participants are subject to special conditions.

Application and eligibility here: http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/grants/2014/ artstart4

Application form and requirements: http://www.sdbi.de/en/category/preis/fash2015/

Deadline: September 22, 2014.

Deadline: September 12, 2014.

Best Dive Job 2014

Djerassi Resident Artists Program: Scientific Delirium Madness

Are you convinced you’re a mermaid stuck in a human’s body? Do you enjoy Finding Nemo to the point of obsession? Blue Season Bali has opened applications for its ‘Best Dive Job in the World 2014’, an international competition for diving enthusiasts.

The eight selected candidates will compete in Bali for the grand prize while taking on a challenging sixweek training program to become a certified PADI Divemaster.

A collaborative initiative involving Djerassi, Scientific Delirium Madness believes empiricism and intuition are not mutually exclusive. In order to explore and expand how the creativity of scientists and artists are connected, the program will host six scientists and six creative artists for a month long residency.

At Djerassi’s retreat in the coastal Santa Cruz Mountains of San Francisco, U.S., residents will participate in forums and interact with colleagues from other disciplines. According to Djerassi, a ‘strong sense of play and experimentation is essential’.

Brief: Eight participants will take part in a six-week program in May 2015 that ends with a final elimination round to produce one winner. Winner receives training to become a PADI Master Scuba Diver, accommodation during training, scuba gear and a fulltime work contract with Blue Season Bali. Applicants will submit a 90 second video answering the question: “Why do I want to become a PADI professional scuba instructor and win the Best Dive Job in the World?” Candidates must already be a certified recreational diver aged 18 and above.

Brief: 30-day residency program from June 30 to July 29, 2016 with Djerassi. Applicants can be from the field of science, with disciplines in biology, agricultural science, chemistry and others or from the field of art, with disciplines in visual art, literature, music competition and choreography. Sample requirements differ according to discipline.

Information, entry requirements and a view of the glorious looking retreat here: http://www.djerassi.org/scientific-delirium-madness.html

Application form and information: http://www.bestdivejob.com Deadline: October 31, 2014.

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Deadline: Opens in October 2014 and closes on March 15, 2015.

GIVEAWAYS/ FREEBIES UP FOR GRABS Money can’t buy happiness. Which is a good thing, because we have none of it. In order to distract you from that nagging hunger and the never-ending debate between paying for petrol or starving, METIOR has lined up a few freebies.

The giveaways are rather diverse this edition, so there should be something for everyone. Maybe next time we’ll arrange for some food hampers. In the mean time, you can continue to steal from your housemates.

HOW TO WIN: Send us an email or Facebook message with the title of the giveaway you want along with your full name. metior@the-guild.com.au www.facebook.com/metiormagazine What We Do In The Shadows Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January, What We Do In The Shadows is the first film to have a description that reads; New Zealand horror comedy mockumentary. Those 4 words in sentence are reason enough to watch it.

The film follows the lives of 3 vampires who live their eternal lives as flatmates in a Wellington suburb. In their basement lives an 8000-year-old friend of theirs who looks like Nosferatu with a hangover. The trio have to overcome every day obstacles like avoiding sunlight, sucking blood and paying rent whilst trying to adjust to the 21st century. A series of unfortunate events sees them recruiting a new member to the clan. The new youthful vampire shows them what it takes to live in the new age.

5 x Double Passes Luna Leederville White Rabbit Red Rabbit Now try saying that three times fast. Along with the title, this theatrical performance will come out a little bit twisted. Created by Nassim Soleimanpour, White Rabbit Red Rabbit will see a different performer embrace the stage each evening and at that moment will be handed the script for the first time with no prior knowledge.

Greens senator Scott Ludlam will brave the stage on September 5, or you can catch ex-Murdoch student Mark Storen (interview pg 20) on September 13. A full line up of actors can be found on the White Rabbit Red Rabbit Facebook page or tickets via http://www.perththeatre.com.au/show/white-rabbit-red-rabbit/ Go in the draw to grab these passes and watch the potentially hilarious or highly awkward act unfold.

1 x Double Pass (Between September 2 -13) Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA Beau Est Mien The founder of this art studio began the Australian leg of her life in Fremantle.

The fact that she was able to physically move herself out of the Freo Bubble and into Northbridge is a feat in itself. She chose to express herself through art with Beau Est Mien as the consequence. Read more about the new studio and its roots on page 22.

If you’re interested in having a little dabble in the arts and the crafts, Beau Est Mien has classes that range from crochet and monoprint to ‘underwater world collagraph’. The $35 gift voucher is valid for 6 months and can be used as credit toward workshops, products or services.

1 x $35 Gift Voucher (valid for 6 months) 458 William Street, Northbridge 6000

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PHOTOGRAPHY Photography by Caleb Gorton

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CALLING ALL PLANETEERS Words by Troy Treeby

Hey 90’s kids it’s time to dust off your special rings and get ready to become the next generation of planeteers!

tee needs you to step up and help make it a reality.

There are a variety of roles on offer, from logistics to event planning and student engagement.

The power is yours to help Murdoch become a more sustainable university and host a kickass summit for like-minded students from across the globe to help facilitate sustainable change in their local communities.

You don’t need to be an environmental or sustainability student you just need to be willing to offer your time and skills to make this conference a reality.

There are many benefits from being involved in an event like this, including professional development, networking with like-minded individuals, and empowering yourself and others to make change happen, all while making Murdoch more sustainable and being able to make a difference.

For those of you who haven’t heard about WSEN, (short for World Student Environmental Network), it is an organisation that brings together students from around the world who are interested in making their universities and communities more sustainable.

Engineering students Bohdan Davies and Rhys Gustafsson attended this year’s conference that was held at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, and in conjunction with Gelerah Khakbaz a former Murdoch representative, they were successful in their application to hold next year’s conference here at Murdoch.

For Murdoch’s delegates Rhys and Bohdan the main highlights from the 2014 conference were learning how other universities are incorporating sustainability into their curriculum, and meeting students from around the world with diverse backgrounds who are also motivated in this area.

The primary purpose of WSEN is to act as a reference hub and supporter of student initiatives for sustainability in tertiary education systems and the wider community. The organisation of this event is beginning to take place and we are looking for volunteers so that an organising committee can be formed.

In 2015 Murdoch University will be hosting the 8th annual World Student Environmental Network Summit. This event is held in a different country each year, bringing student leaders from around the world together to share a discourse about environmental issues.

If you would like to be a part of the organising committee enquire to wsen2105@gmail.com For more information on WSEN visit http://wsen2014.org/

Bohdan and Rhys, view of southern coast of South Africa after climbing up Table Mountain

To pull this off they need your help. The conference will be held next July and the organising commit-

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STUNNINGLY SUSTAINABLE SEPTEMBER Words by Murdoch University Sustainability Team Spring is just around the corner folks, so start getting excited about Sustainable September brought to you by the Murdoch University Sustainability Team aka. MUST. With events running across the whole month there will be something for everyone including outdoor yoga classes, a tour of the South Metropolitan Regional Council recycling resource recovery centre and a guided bushwalking tour in the hills, just to name a few.

We will be holding a giant Sustainability Fair on Thursday September 11 celebrating all things sustainability with stalls, activities and entertainment.

And for those interested in some of the practical applications of the principles of sustainability, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam will present his WA 2.0 vision on Friday September 12.

We will also be getting involved in the Bike to Work Challenge running from September 15 – 21, and will be rewarding staff and students who cycle to Murdoch with free coffee vouchers.

Look out for our posters around campus for more information on what is planned.

If you would like to find out more about MUST or want to help with Sustainable September please contact either Chenoa chang-lang199@hotmail.com or Troy troytreeby@iinet.net.au

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MURDOCH GROUP Words by Beth Weston Amnesty International is always on the lookout for new members and this year we will be expanding on the Amnesty International group for Murdoch Students from all faculties. Joining Amnesty is a fantastic opportunity for you to become proactive and learn more about human rights. The group is currently following Amnesty International’s priority campaign, which is Stop Torture. At group meetings members can sign petitions, be a part of letter writing campaigns and organise other actions to promote human rights issues.

Amnesty has a global movement of more than 4.6 million people like you and me working together to stop human rights abuses and fight social injustice around the world. We defend people and communities who are denied justice or freedom, encourage governments and others to respect human right and raise awareness of the international standards that protect us all.

Action groups are at the heart of Amnesty International. It is where supporters come together to engage in key campaigns, organise events and stalls, visit MP’s and contact media outlets in their local community.

Contact us at amnesty.murdoch@gmail.com and find us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AmnestyMurdochCampusGroup to find out more about our fortnightly meetings.

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PHOTOGRAPHY Photography by Rosemary Henderson

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LIFE IN ANTARCTICA

Words by Caris Horton & Photography by Anthony Powell Anthony Powell and his wife Christine have spent over 10 years working and filming in Antarctica to create Antarctica: A Year on Ice, a documentary that focuses on the lives of the workers in Antarctica through the use of interviews and beautiful time lapse footage. I caught up with the couple while they were in town to talk about life in Antarctica and the film.

What exactly are your job titles in Antarctica?

Christine: I’ve done many, many jobs down there.

I seem to move around a lot. Mostly the stuff I do is administrative or where organisation is needed. I actually started my first job mopping floors so I got that in order to get down there. Once I was down there I was able to connect with other people and other jobs. The job I’ve done the most is finance so working the ATMs at McMurdo Station [a US-run base]. They have a little tiny economy where cash goes out of the bars, gets spent at the bars and then it comes back to me. I put it back into the ATM and so it goes round and round.

just to get through the work. Then in the winter everything slows down a lot more. It does become very routine work and a bit repetitive.

Is there any danger involved in working in such harsh conditions?

A: Actually the biggest single cause of death in Antarctica is aircraft crashes. There’s been a few helicopter crashes. Light aircraft crashes – things like that.

Number 2 would be crevasses. There are hiking trails where there are flagged out safe routes where people can go for a walk and sometimes you will get someone who panics if they see bad weather coming in - they try to take a shortcut. In the late 80’s there were 2 people who fell down a crevasse and most of them get narrower as they go down and people get wedged way down in there and in 10-15 minutes they freeze to death up against solid ice.

Anthony: I was working as a communications technician and went down to Scott Base [a New Zealand run base] for three years and after marrying the lass from over the hills [Christine is American] I carried on working at McMurdo for six years as their communications engineer and then also spent another year working as an avionics technician and looking after all the navigation beacons.

C: Yeah, there are dangers. The biggest thing people imagine the biggest injury would be is frostbite but that’s actually really low.

What have been some of the most surreal moments you’ve had since working in Antarctica?

C: Well I would say going inside a crevasse was pretty amazing, just dangling from the lip of a crevasse on the inside and looking down into it. It just gets darker and darker blue as it goes down and looking to either side of you and seeing it going on and on.

That was pretty neat. The thing that fascinates me is how light plays on things like snow and ice and crystals. Sometimes you’ll get crystals that are just floating in the air and you can just see them out of the corner of your eye. It’s like the experience you would have if you were seeing fireflies. You just see these little twinkles out of the corner of your eye.

What would a typical working day be like, is there such a thing given that you aren’t in a 9 to 5 office environment?

C: Yeah, well you are in an office sometimes but typically you live in a dorm that’s separate from your work so you walk to work. Depending on the weather, that can be kinda fun. You get up in the morning, have breakfast in your room or in the galley, walk out and put your clothing on.

A: It’s different here because for me I would get up at 7 o’clock, have a quick bite to eat, walk down to start work at 7:30 in the communications office, repair some gear or get ready to jump on a helicopter to fly over a mountaintop to fix something, then quite often you end up eating on a mountain.

Whereas at Scott Base and most of the other bases around Antarctica, because they are much smaller, all the buildings are interconnected so you can just crawl to breakfast in your socks or walk down the hall. I went for weeks without putting shoes on [laughs]. Often you’re working long hours, especially on days when you are flying. So we’re supposed to work 6 days a week especially in the summertime

A: For me there’s the nacreous clouds and the aurora displays but something that was completely unexpected – but I guess isn’t that unique to Antarctica – was when I was just out by myself one day and then a massive meteor came overhead. The head of it would have been the size of the moon and it left a massive fire trail behind it just streaking from one horizon to the other. I didn’t have time to pull my camera out or anything.

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LIFE IN ANTARCTICA

Words by Caris Horton & Photography by Anthony Powell So over your years of working there have you seen big environmental changes because of global warming to the landscape?

A: Well, because we are so far south, the temperature hardly ever gets above freezing but there are some other signs such as the huge increase in the amount of sea ice over the last few years. Actually an increase in sea ice is a sign of warming not cooling because the added heat means that there is more fresh water getting into the ocean. There’s also more snow in the air because you have increased humidity so therefore you’re getting more snowfall and more sea ice as a result building up. It’s a bit counter intuitive. Over in western Antarctica they’ve seen massive changes though. All down the Antarctic Peninsula there’s big collapses of ice shelves going on over there that they’re measuring now.

C: The Pine Island glacier is a big one that they’re studying right now. They call it PIG. It’s got a terrible acronym [laughs]. That glacier is starting to break up and going out to sea at a much faster rate than normal.

Moving onto the more technical side, you are completely self-taught in film making? Were you always interested in film making?

A: I’ve always been interested in photography. I remember watching a movie on TV as a kid and it was a 60s version of The Time Machine where they had the stop motion time lapse shots. I was just fascinated by the images of how they showed the sun turning around in the sky. it was around about 2003 when the camera technology reached the point where you could take a digital still photo that could be put up on a movie screen and I thought ‘well I’ll give it a go’ and once I started doing that for a while I figured out ‘yes I was definitely onto something’. It took a pretty steep learning curve to get around all the mechanical difficulties and making things work in the cold because no one had ever filmed in those temperatures before so I had to basically teach myself through trial and error.

with wires straight into the cameras to keep them going. After a couple of years I gave up on trying to insulate the cameras because it’s such a huge power requirement to heat them so I just let them run cold.

Most cameras will keep functioning down to about minus 40. When you hit minus 60 is when you start to run into weird things with the actual physics of the electronics.

Lastly, I just wanted to ask what advice would you give to students who would love to work in Antarctica someday?

C: Well the kinds of things that are needed, if you really want to go, are electricians, engineers, people who can build stuff, carpenters, communications technicians, chefs, surveyors, medical people. Any kind of trades really.

A: The primary trade skills are actually the people who go there the most. Those are the jobs they need to keep the bases running and keep the machinery running all year round. The vast majority of the researchers only go down during the summer and then it’s the rest of the teams there in winter who keep the bases running. Probably 95 percent of the research happens over the summer period and then over the winter everything is getting fixed and prepared for the upcoming season.

C: Also cold weather survival like mountaineering is another one but I don’t have any of that and I’ve found jobs so I think it’s mostly just doing a really good job and getting a good reputation for being a hard worker and just being persistent. If you apply you might not get it the first time and you might not get it the second time or third time but you just have to keep at it. When I first applied, I called the home office every week and talked to the person who hired just to say hello because I wanted my name to be in the front of his mind. Friendly persistence is what I would suggest.

What adaptions did you have to make to the camera technologies so that they could survive the winter?

A: The big one was the power supplies because most of the batteries stop working after 5 or 10 minutes in the cold and then the LCD displays on the cameras would freeze up at around minus 20 or 30 so you couldn’t actually see any of the controls and what To check out the full interview, go to they were saying. I was hauling around car batteries 13 http://carishorton1.wordpress.com/

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WHY DO YOU TRAVEL?

Words & Photography by Adam Semple I got out of the taxi at a random intersection because I had grown fed up with my driver. It was the first time I had let myself become frustrated since I arrived in the country and it immediately hit me as an embarrassment. I had travelled into this other land, put myself in situations of discomfort on purpose, chasing some sort of ‘experience’ that some would call narcissistic – and others would consider merely confused – and I let myself get mad at a people that has not only been oppressed for centuries, but remain to be so, as we storm in with our money and ideals, consuming our paths like lawn mowers and children, jamming cameras in their faces.

In my defence, it had been a fairly interesting concoction of fuck-ups which allowed me to arrive at such a place in such a state. I slept through two alarms, after power outages and 40 degrees Celsius prevented my sleep. Waking up late I had missed my first-class-air-con-culture-free-train-seat, so I walked down to the bus stand. I passed many people who were sitting doing nothing, some cows grazing on used and discarded paper cups and the skin of mango, and I arrived to a cluster of buses and horns too loud for 7am. This city, to provide some context, was specifically distant from anything else, so I capitalised on my strangeness and heckled some locals for their potential insider information about my next destination. As so many locals tend to do in these parts of the world, I was treated with great respect and attention, I suppose due to their interest in such a foreign wonderland from which I must hail. At this moment I would usually pull out my camera, jam it in their face, and start capturing interesting (subjectively ignorant) things that my friends at home could gawk over just as they are gawking at me.

I asked where to stay, what to see, what to do. By nature they gave me exactly the sort of information that they expected a white man with a shiny watch would want. They mentioned temples, hotels with infinity pools, markets selling things that were about to break, or a restaurant that gave you a fork when you walked in; precisely the things I had tried to leave at home along with the Lonely Planet guide.

I corrected my request, “Okay so, what will you be doing when you get there?”

They paused, looked at each other, and one spoke.

“Well, why don’t you just come with us?”

Ninety minutes later we were running back from a mountain top lake to our car because it was said there would be panthers and snakes roaming free when the sun went down. They hid all day and we hid all night.

The lake was about 45 minutes above a small city which was surrounded by endless tea-fields, and we’d parked our car at the end of a road by a village where children were competing in an obscure game I haven’t witnessed before, pushing used motorbike tires with a stick, a sort of imitation of an out-dated axel system.

The tin roofs of their homes were held down by large rocks and pot plants, the children wore Nike headwear.

Back in town we went to a restaurant, drank some beer, ate some tandoori and they accommodated me by splitting their stories up into half English and half non-English. It turns out these guys were all doctors and engineers aiming for civil service (which is the most sought after occupation in this part of the world) who had grown up in villages on the outskirts of town and weaved their way into university, speaking 3-5 languages each and dressing with a degree of tack. An engineer from a village. A mud hut and a Porsche.

A goat and an iPhone?

I woke up the next morning and took another bus, further East, always East because I figured eventually it will turn into West. I got off at a place that was smaller than I expected it to be. It was the border between two states so there was a large-stone weighted gate that had to be hauled down into closure position. This gate marked the end of one state and the next came after 100 meters of legal and spatial limbo, and there was an eerie lack of horns. The police threw rocks at the monkeys here, but that’s just what happens when you give an idiot some power. Or give power some idiots. The whole collaboration of gates and confused monkeys was supposed to constitute the town, so I walked up and back a few times before succumbing to the Tourist Advice Building, which was a small sectioned corner inside a restaurant, the second of three buildings in sight.

Continued on pg 18

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WHY DO YOU TRAVEL?

Words & Photography by Adam Semple Continued from pg 15…

I employed a tour guide for three hours and the young man wore a militaristic dark green uniform, with little decorations on the shoulders and some plastic thongs which had seen some walking. I asked him at the outset if he had plans to change his footwear to something less enticing to a snake and he just kind of waved me off. We took a dirt track off the main street and away from the three buildings and it was like entering that world in the film Avatar. The guide was basically tippy-toeing. He would gently move, with finger and thumb and absolute delicacy, the thorniest and most defiant of ‘overgrowth,’ and wait until I had passed to slowly return them to their place. He stepped on nothing that made noise or felt his force, but moved as if floating. He broke no stick and made no sound. He paused every so often to listen for deer, and we ducked into used-by river beds and slid up rock gardens on the faces of hills that saw everything. He didn’t say a word; he had no desire to communicate anything because the only thing that mattered was being a part of this place. He ate nothing, carried nothing, but never stopped listening.

When we got back it was about 40 degrees. The guide returned to a bench alongside his friends and I jammed myself into the busiest bus I have ever seen. Apart from being abused by the bus driver to move further into the centre of the bus, further assault came in the form of an odorous army. It was to be two hours standing up in this sweat box before it occurred to me how privileged those with personal space actually are. Personal space and its associations (silence, odourless-ness, oxygen) are absolutely not a part of the package over there, but it’s no problem at all if you’ve never actually felt nothing as you stretch your arms wide. You can’t crave what you’ve never known.

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WHITE RABBIT, RED RABBIT Words by Olivia Gardner

Try to picture this; a different performer walks on stage every night, they’re alone and they’ve just been handed the script for the evening’s performance. This is what you can expect from White Rabbit, Red Rabbit a play by Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour that’s running at the State Theatre Studio Underground this September. I could tell you what it’s about but that kind of takes the fun out of it, don’t you think? Instead, I decided to have a chat to one of the performers Mark Storen about everything that we don’t know about the play.

So you’re a Murdoch graduate I hear?

Yeah, I finished my degree in ’97. I did a certificate in music theatre at WAAPA in ’95 before that which was just a year course. But yeah, I got my degree at Murdoch and that’s where I ended up so it was good.

What was your degree at Murdoch?

Theatre and Drama Studies, I’d kinda been studying and doing stuff all over the place so I just consolidated my degree, finished up, got out there and started to do some work.

How’d you like it?

I enjoyed it. I’d been doing a lot more conventional and commercial theatre study and practice and then when I got to Murdoch it opened my eyes to practitioners like Robert Wilson, it was much more experimental and experiential and that was good for me at the time.

Now, with White Rabbit, Red Rabbit I know that you are handed the script on the night…

Yep [laughs] So what can you actually tell me about what you know about the performance?

Nothing [laughs] I actually know nothing, all I know is that… like it’s um, yeah. All the other actors get the same, it’s the same for them, the same script for each actor and we pretty much just get it on the night and we go. Because I’m the closing night, I can’t actually see any of the other performances, some of the other performers – once they’ve done theirs – they can go and watch the other performers throughout the season.

That’s a bit of a bummer Yeah, but they reckon they’re going to film them all so that’ll be interesting, I’ll be able to have a look back and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, I know nothing about what it is I’m going to do, apart from that I get the script on the night and I go for it and that’s kind of exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

So you don’t really know anything about the story line or any themes?

Nothing.

Do you know much about the writer?

No, I had to sign a contract that said I wouldn’t research anything about the play or the writer or anything to do with it – which is good because I think that to kind of have the full experience as performer and audience I think you need be a bit disciplined in that. So I’ve just basically got it pencilled in my diary as I’ve got to be at the State Theatre Centre at that time on this day to do this thing that I know nothing about.

[Laughs] That’s pretty cool, what do you think about impromptu theatre like this?

I love it, when I was asked to do it I just said yes straight away because most of the work I do – I’ve done some improvisation over the years – but mostly now I do solo shows and storytelling, so most of my work over the past six years has been me solo on stage. I really like that challenge as performer and I kind of like that, it’s a bit selfish, but you get the entire audience to yourself, but at the same time you’ve got to work a bit harder to sustain an audience if it’s just yourself on stage.

Yeah, but I really love it, I think it’s great, it’s exciting, its spontaneous, it’s in the moment, it’s a bit wild and chaotic, it’s not contained like a lot of theatre can be so, yeah, I’m a fan.

If this sounds like something you’d like to know more about we’ve got some tickets up for grabs on pg5, otherwise head to http://www.perththeatre.com.au/show/white-rabbit-red-rabbit/ to pick up some tickets online.

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Kenza Thready

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BEAU EST MIEN

Words & Photography by Liza Townsend An easy walk from the CBD, Northbridge is the cultural heart of Perth and one of its oldest and most popular suburbs. With its rich heritage, cultural diversity, eclectic mix of shops and lively restaurants and bars, it has always been a vibrant and intriguing area to explore. More recently Northbridge has received a much needed cash injection from the government allowing for the restoration and enhancement of residential, commercial, retail and entertainment zones. The new Northbridge presents a more appealing environment and is becoming home to a vast array of unique inhabitants.

The shop boasts an abundance of creatively designed and crafted treasures such as artwork, jewellery, toys, homewares, and printmaking supplies.

The studio has been transformed into a serene and therapeutic environment which lends itself perfectly to both productivity and creativity.

“We offer all kinds of printmaking workshops in the studio including etching, collagraph, lino printing and screen printing. The most popular workshop is the screen printing because that partially takes place in the dark room and you can print cool things like posters and t-shirts. We also offer school holiday workshops for children that are a big hit and are great fun too” Says Tang.

William Street is enjoying its own renaissance and offers a refreshing mix of bookshops, record stores, vintage boutiques, cafes, pop up’s, eateries and galleries.

“A major philosophy of the Beau Est Mien family is to teach and to share and this is one reason behind the Artist in Residence programme,” Tang explains, “each month a new artist is invited to spend roughly three weeks in the studio where they can create a new body of work and then exhibit their work in the shop at the end of their residency.”

One of the more recent additions to the William Street scene is a printing studio and shop called Beau Est Mien meaning Beautiful is mine. Established by French artist and printmaker Magali Dincher, the concept is a delightful and creative space where visitors are invited to browse the ground floor shop or to attend the many diverse and inspiring workshops held in the upstairs studio.

“While in residence, each artist is required to undertake a workshop at the studio so that they can share their skills and knowledge with others. This also enables the studio to offer workshops other than printing, to the public, such as paper cutting and crochet.”

I recently caught up with the studio’s manager (and talented artist) Alina Tang who revealed to me what the studio is all about.

“I first met Magali when I was in art school in 2011” Tang explains, “I was a huge fan of her work and was lucky enough to get some work experience in her tiny home studio. We became great friends and after a few months she gave me a job. We relocated to a larger studio in Fremantle that we shared with other artists. Then, after lots of hard work and dedication, we were able to move to our present position on William Street in April this year.”

Beau Est Mien also share their studio by offering exclusive Studio Access sessions which allow artists to rent the space for a full or half day and use the equipment to produce their own printing projects.

I asked Tang what she thought was most special about Beau Est Mien to which she passionately responds, “We love the fact that we have a printmaking studio that is accessible to other artists and the public. Our workshops are very special to us and we love interacting with people and sharing our skills with them. Also all the artwork that we sell is done by hand and everything we sell in the shop has been designed and handcrafted by artists, and that is very important to us.”

Tang recalls, “When we first got here it was an old skydiving office with purple and orange walls and dirty carpet, we needed to completely change the space and spent about six weeks renovating.”

The shop and upstairs studio have been thoughtfully stripped back and are both light and airy with distressed timber floors and natural timber furniture.

The walls are now a creamy vanilla with delicate sorbet colours of peppermint, apricot and raspberry subtly accenting doorframes, windows and shelves.

Beau Est Mien is located at 458 William Street, Northbridge, or visit www.beauestmien.com.au Check out our giveaways page for more details on how to win a $35 voucher that Beau Est Mien is generously offering up for grabs.

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PHOTOGRAPHER James Ahern

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CRACKS IN THE CITY

Words by Zachary Duggan & Photography by Adam Semple My heart beats to a different rhythm in the city; I can’t hear it but can feel its tension. Galaxies of glass buildings conspire to cast off an overpowering glare, blurring eyes with tears or glaring onto tear filled eyes.

Of that I am unsure. But the polished glass reflects a million lost dreams into the caverns of my mind. An obsidian skyline cutting a vicious horizon, concrete pavement inlaid in the scramble for space. Betraying all the vivid possibilities of human potential. Fat wallets and endless numbers on the screen poison the mind with the new false god. Omnipotent and infinite, the power of our invention so great that we forget that we invented it!

But peer beneath this numbing mediocrity, the pretty faces and ugly minds. I know that my heart beats, reverberating tirelessly, cyclically like the rising and setting sun. But one day even the sun will fizzle away to dust. In these walls we bleed all the light from ourselves to power the city lights, afraid of that darkness creeping in. Happiness by the kilowatt.

The airport looms up; they are always low to the ground so nobody gets the idea of leaving. My ears humming to the low rumble of morning traffic, the faint whir of sirens invites a black curiosity amongst the deadening noises of hurried, mumbled conversations. More energetically now, I bounce off the cold pavement, rolling from heel to toe, the padded noise just audible over the monotonous drone of taxis, always occupied, heading to the drop-off and then around again into the huge queue. Smoking and joking, it seems boredom is the price of convenience.

Without any conscious thought, my ears pick vibrations out of the silence, spinning a tapestry of noises for my brain to interpret and judge. Tyre screeches and the blaring of horns clash with the sometimes tranquil hum of the city, bustling with continuation. The show is always going on. Inside me this universe of cells, neurons and chemicals, multitasking effortlessly to bring this world to life and keep me alive within it. An infinite chemistry of happenings, refusing to ever be condemned to understanding through any scientific faculty, there will always be mystery; just like reading a phonebook will never tell you much about the people in a city, despite knowing all their names. The universe is nothing without its observers! What is a ship without a dock, captain and crew? The city enrages my soul with apathy but the ocean within calms it to a more direct purpose, reminding me of the illusion of separateness.

The city never rests but everyone is asleep, cookie cutter people amble up the road, always a coffee in their left hand and the phone precariously glued to their right, constantly stimulated into an ever-deepening anxious overdrive. Either afraid or blind to the infinite power that exists within, all our stories began in the heart of an exploding star.

The crack caught my eye, it was large, a fettered line that traced raggedly through the marble, showing only an eager direction, it would not have looked out of place on a terracotta figure left to cook too long.

I imagined the figure, eerily like the ceramic faces around me, blank and unconscious, mouths tensed into that forced unnatural smile. Relentlessly pretending that nothing is wrong, somewhat like an enlivened brick. The eyes; cold, buried beneath ten layers of needless thought and scotch tape safety sealed to bury that raw purity that urges them to dream, love, create and laugh with joy. An ocean of feeling constricted by the dam walls of thought. But the cracks are always there to the right eye! Even in the simple rebellion of a loose extravagant tie, colourful odd socks, a youthful spring in the step, a brutal morning hangover or a tender smile reveal their humanity.

I traced the crack with my eyes, the immense force of the Earth ensuring all will crumble. It bridged the intersection of the smooth marble wall and the calloused pavement. Out of this epitome of the failing city, the green stem curled as powerfully as any mythical serpent, growing up towards the light, out of the dark cold gap and spreading it’s fullness up towards the hazy blue sky. I inhaled deeply but was so lambasted by the vapid fumes of oil, sweat, the corrosive construction dust though soothed slightly by the fleeting breath of a touch of salty, moist ocean air. Not a hint of the tiny flower’s aroma, a pink soft thing, juxtaposing itself as if in protest to its thick, grey foundations. There was life in full form, hiding in a forgotten corner wall of the airport terminal three. It didn’t seek to get out of the concrete it just grew, stretched up for the light

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CRACKS IN THE CITY

Words by Zachary Duggan & Photography by Adam Semple without worry. Like the ocean casting the luminous full moons reflection along its surface, neither wants nor tries and though our eyes do not struggle to capture it, without them the reflection would not exist. True beauty is effortless, but never accidental.

I sit just above the aluminium wing, the aircraft is a work of art, the wing shudders under the force of the wind, bouncing on thin air, but stabilising as it goes. If only the cramped seats were engineered so thoughtfully. As I orbit the Earth, it orbits our burning sphere as it orbits the Milky Way, a fact begging anybody with an imagination still intact too picture this profound but effortless universal dance.

Beside me is Greg, a businessman from New York, we make small talk and I ask about his life, his family. He works in insurance. He hasn’t seen his kids in 3 weeks. His striped collared shirt matches perfectly with his grey dotted tie. He hates his job. His mind is still in the city, on his report, on his boss, on his new BMW M4 with all the extras parked in his driveway that he hasn’t driven in three weeks. The first lick of the sun’s rays light up the atmosphere a scorching orange, an ocean of colour graces the skies, bouncing off the scattered pillowy clouds. Greg missed it. Greg had two sleeping pills.

Quarantined by a life spent in worried fear, he lost the rhythm in the chaos; but we are all just playing our part in this universal dance, just some looked down at their feet and tripped, unable to laugh they forgot it was only meant to be a game. Though we play this game along with the world, never let yourself be cut down to a shape that fits.

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PHOTOGRAPHER Ava Manadal

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SPRINGTIME MADNESS

Words by Anthony K J Smith & Photography by Rosemary Henderson Along came springtime madness. The fervent smell of flora and fauna pervaded the senses and brought about terrible fits of sneezing and sniffles to those inflicted with even the least amount of hay fever. Following a world-shattering sneeze, amidst compulsory heterosexuality, She decided that life was probably, or at least almost worth living. At the same time, He had felt a sense of remorse due to the fact that social conditioning required, no demanded of him, clarity of identity, alongside an appreciation of ambiguity.

She laid eyes upon Him, on the way to some future-driven endeavor, and He laid eyes upon Her whilst he began to trail off, contemplating the good and the bad.

Their gaze was inseparable, and the Australian sun loomed and echoed with each day passing, pushing back winter’s bitter chill. And as every moment in the year would have it, a repetitive torrent and litany of weather preference would scratch at the surface of every little superficial (or momentous) social exchange.

Nonetheless, those who would enjoy the change of seasons would go on to enjoy the springtime sun, frolicking in the revelry of renewal, whilst those who did not enjoy sunshine and farts would invariably keep on breathing… much like (or to the frustration of) everyone else.

Springtime madness was a time of unguarded lust and boundless optimism. The world was at Their feet, entwined, Their tangled bodies held tight. They clung onto each other with fear that if They didn’t – that if They did not hold onto this finite positivity – it would instead fall through Their fingers like sand at a beach.

This was the moment for Them. Now. Now! Right now, this moment. Present. This was an epoch of divine proportions, not to mention plentiful revelations. They ought to embrace it now. If They did not hold onto it, They would pass, and They would be old. They would rust. They would rot! They would shatter… Their fragile memories would be surrounded with bittersweet nostalgia of Their springtime madness.

As though springtime madness were not idealistic enough, They would fastidiously hold that They were a new and innovative category of individuals whom were both pioneers of knowledge and thespians of an entirely new order – who can and would change the world.

Nevertheless They would simultaneously dream of the corporate, of the mundane, of the nuclear, of the banal. O! What loving romance. What lovely, dreary fancy. His lips were on Hers, and yet She stared up at the blue beyond and dreamed of human success. Her lips were on His, and He stared into Her eyes, ever-searching for a glassy reflection that might allow Him to look into naught but the depths of His own fickle heart.

All vanity aside, it was an entirely romantic ordeal.

They might think that this springtime madness is some such or the other. They might not even ever consider it madness. In the unswerving attempt to categorise and lament, They may just attribute it to some condition of the human, or otherwise. After all, the fanciful and the aspiring have no place elsewhere, or anywhere else.

In a dreamlike state They would sit on the edge of some rolling, grassy hill, and stare up at the scattered clouds and make sense of the madness - out of projected fluffy sky bound shapes (the true optimist would also do this very same thing in every other season).

The madness was insatiable. It was everywhere. The madness was in the mind - in Her mind, in His mind, in the sky, in the clouds, in the rivers, in the many oceans and seas, in the innumerable conceptions of cosmology and in the best and worst of design.

Theories and lamentations aside, the springtime madness was temporary. The searing and the fiery wrath of December-tide would come to fruition and they would be broken out of their dreary daze. All of them, far too sun-struck and burnt, covered in patchy, sweaty pits, broken of their idealistic resolve, and burdened with the unforeseeable future.

Springtime madness was over – how would they cope? He had spent far too long convincing Her of His lifelong love and lust, and She had spent far too long convincing Him of Her idealistic aspirations and hopes.

They had both spent far too long telling lies, through Their hay fever sniffles. They would have to find a new madness to tide them over.

Along came Summer.

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FILM REVIEW 20,000 Days on Earth Words by Ben Wright 20,000 Days on Earth is finally making its way to our humble shores after a very successful run of some of the most important festivals on the global circuit including Sundance and Sydney Film Festival . Now before I go any further I have to confess that I am a huge Nick Cave fan. I have tried my best to be as objective as possible, but it is only fair I let you know before we go any further.

The documentary itself is an interesting beast. It presents itself as a day in the life of Nick Cave as he and his fellow Bad Seeds are creating Push the Sky Away, their most recent album. However, an awful lot happens within this so called single day, including a visit to a shrink and a lot of car trips with influential people.

Cave is clearly having fun with the documentary format and its structure is designed to drive the narrative forward. The film makers don’t hide its scripted nature, with the writing credit being one of the first you see at the end.

Given this is a documentary about Nick Cave written by Nick Cave, it isn’t shocking that Cave and Team have taken such an avant-garde approach to this film. It largely works, with the strongest parts being the montage sections of Cave going about his daily life with a voice over by the man himself. The conversations he has in his car with past collaborators Ray Winstone (The Proposition), Blixa Bargeld (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds) and Kylie Minogue (Where the Wild Roses Grow) are amongst the strongest parts in the film, even if they are filmed in a very cinematic non-documentary style.

In other places the overtly planned nature of this documentary doesn’t work as well as they intended.

One scene that feels particularly staged is when Cave goes to see his shrink, played by noted author and psycho-analyst Darian Leader. What could have been a very interesting conversation on human nature and death from two experts in the field instead ends up feeling more like a flashy television interview. Cave’s responses are funny enough, but you get the feeling there was so much more Leader wanted to ask him.

The film has been exquisitely well shot by Erik Wilson, who did the cinematography on the music video for Jubilee Street from Push the Sky Away. He has used a very cinematic style with lots of different camera angles and some very well motivated camera movement. Myself and several other fans that saw the film all felt that it was hard not to clap at the end of the songs from recent live performances as Wilson does an amazing job of capturing the intimacy of a Bad Seeds live show. This all adds together to make it more of a narrative about a hypothetical day in the life of a modern dark prince of rock than a more standard interview/archival footage documentary.

There is enough here for people who aren’t fans of Nick Cave to enjoy, but fans will really appreciate it the most. It goes into details of the creative process for one of the most prolific creatives in modern Australian art. At the end of the day Nick Cave is one of the greatest story tellers of the modern era; be it through his lyrics, his screenplays or his work on film scores. And with this film, he is telling us another great story, his story.

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ART REVIEW Richard Avedon People Words by Olivia Gardner A series of Richard Avedon’s black and white photography is the latest exhibition to hit the Art Gallery of WA and it’s seriously worth your trouble.

Avedon, although surely not widely known among many in Perth, was somewhat of a superstar photographer in NYC from the 50’s up until his death in 2004. The man documented literally every big name imaginable from icons the likes of Marilyn Monroe to Kate Moss, writers from Capote to Ginsberg. He was there for Warhol, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the civil rights movement, and the assassination of Kennedy. You get the picture, but truly, it’s not the famous names that speak volumes for the work; it’s the skill and artistry of Avedon’s compositions, and his unique eye and ability to capture a side of someone or something like no other.

For this reason alone, if you wish to experience tasteful impressions of the mighty and the meek from the past half century, look no further than upstairs at the AGWA. Marilyn Monroe, actress, New York, May 6, 1957 Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation

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